Ballast Point Brewing — Restaurant in San Diego

Parking on a Thursday at 7:30 is worse than you'd think. I got to ballast point and there were three lines from the bar to the door. Don't fret. At least if Jeff is working. He had the line down in a few minutes. Maybe a five minute wait. I ordered two beers because I didn't want to wait in line again. Honestly, there was nothing to worry about. Lines died down. I sat at the bar. Jeff even kept my water glass filled. Go Jeff! But not just Jeff. They went from slammed to everyone was happy in about 8 minutes. These guys should run an ER.

I ordered the Pineapple Sculpin sandwich with side salad. Honestly, the side salad was disappointing. It was bitter with greens and the dressing may as well have been strait olive oil. They were very fresh greens though and a nice mix. Part of the bitterness but they didn't balance it with cranberries or anything slightly sweet or nutty. It was kind of plane. That being said, the pork was excellent. I review a number of BBQ restaurants in the south, and although this is not BBQ, it is on par. You won't get the smoky deliciousness, but the consistency and texture is on par. There is a sweetness of the pineapple that gives it a Hawaiian BBQ vibe. It still has deep savory flavors and reminds me of the southern BBQ because of the twist on coleslaw they put on top. Honestly, I think it's more of the same salad, but here it dominates. A+. Especially for the price. Definitely enough to satisfy the average heavy appetite, but if not there's always beer... and how.

A wall of it. I had the red velvet nitro because I'm an idiot. I thought it was just called that because it's red. Nope, it taste like red velvet cake. Gross right? Actually no. I hate dessert. I'll try it, but fundamentally I believe it's waste of good steak space. This does taste like a hint of red velvet, but not at all overwhelming and actually, kind of good.

I also had the barometer drop which is described as a Baltic porter. I have been to the Baltic and can tell you, I've never had a beer like this. Super dark beer. Very deep flavors. They say chocolate but I wouldn't describe it as that. Maybe if you burnt the brownies. All I can say is it's good... if you like dark beers.

Next was the smoked barley wine. A collaboration with amplified, it's like having a campfire in your mouth. That may not sound good, but if you've ever been drinking dark brew by a campfire, you're right back to that moment. It's definitely not like "food smoke". It's like a campfire. But kind of awesome. May pair with BBQ. Your call. But it's 9.7% while supplies last, and it's a beast. If you like light or hoppy beer, this will knock your teeth out.

Un, deux, trois. Fun name. Play on words. You'll see. A little disappointing for me. Not bad though. It seems over carbonated. Lots of bubbles. Could be the pour. Turns to foam with one swish in the mouth. The carbonation is a big problem. It's kind of like a rich aventinus. It's only 6% though. With that flavor, i would think the yeast of would produce more alcohol. It's lighter than the porters, but way less hoppy than an IPA and darker. It's flavor really comes from the yeast, processing, etc. if you like aventinus, you'll probably like this, but tell them to give it a hard pour and let it settle out or you'll be burping the alphabet.

I'm giving this 5 stars for the staff alone. They would get more stars for the food and just the amazing vibe this brewery has. Great place 6 stars. The longer I stay the better it is. Awesome job Kelsey for checking on people. Supper personable. Alex personally walked me to the swag shack to see if they had a tin I wanted. They didn't but thanks Alex. Hoa. What a comedian. So funny. Literally, I'm writing this as I meet more of the staff. Lex checked on me and grabbed me a flight while passing by. Great people. Great atmosphere. Great selection of beer. The more I try, the better. Nothing here is bad you just need to find...

My third time here. First under Covid. 1640 hours arrival today Friday I'm 49, casual one or two beers with some food kind of guy . Large Entrance space but we have to wait outside with only one person allowed to speak to the host at a time - did not get that at all. Saw from outside a gentleman host seating the lady in front of us. He didn't even acknowledge us that or if he would be back. Waited at the host station for like ten minutes. . Then looks like a lady host or waitress did acknowledge us and seated us quite quickly. Gentleman dropped menus off at the table. No greeting, no welcome, he did let us know that we order thru the Table QR code. My son, 24, frequent Ballast Point Regular since Gordon Biersch Closed. He handled the phone app order. Beers ordered. Now discuss food. Wings sounded good but since we can't choose sauce we want to do half Truffle half the other. App doesn't allow us to do that. I can't see his phone so get mine try to scan and log on. And No, won't let us do half and half. Can't get someone to stop long enough to even help us. So on the beer order under special order my son writes out the request. Kevin brings us the beers, quickly, good. We ask Kevin about the our request. He has to go ask. My son goes restroom. Kevin returns promptly during that time. He verified that we could do the two sauces on the side. Again we have to order thru the app. Which is my son's phone so I can't ask Kevin to just put in the order. Son comes back. Sauce on the side is no good. Now there is no one to ask about another option or question. The servers are A 2 B back to A station . No eyes contact on the way back to A- kitchen or the bar. We were seated in the outside area just outside the fireplace. One server even takes a dog bowl with water to a table and went straight back to the inside bar area. I had my eyes Locked on but no avail. I wanted glass of Water. I went to the Bar. Two guys behind the bar, very attentive great . NP We decide on Truffle Wings. Again arrived Promptly. Very temp hot. Great platter Presentation. I asked that gentleman for Extra Ranch. *Never ever received it. * No one ever stopped by to see how our food was, if we needed anything. No Server ever stopped in the the patio area. They came in with items, dropped them off and gone. There was one person that cleaned a couple of tables and did stop at the little outside wooden bar but unable to get any eye contact. Truffle Wings listed under "Plates 2 Share" We never got any plates. Any Silverware and only one napkin to each of us. So again I went to the bar asked for three plates - one for bones- and extra napkins. Again same two gentleman behind bar. Quick, attentive, received them right away. . Truffle Wings were stupendous, temp, great flavor, cooked perfectly. Very very delicious. 1st time trying them. Vegetables we're good as well. Wanted to have another beer. But with the experience we had, we decided to go somewhere else. Now all done and paid. The guy that had cleaned a few tables Did come over and take our plates and cleared our table. I did acknowledge the Covid situation with him as to try and empathize the situation. I just let him know the food was excellent. The Wahoo Beer kind of orange style was also excellent. Flavor. The service was just nill. He did apologize, we had a good two minute talk or so. On our walk out. Again got eye contact with him as he was bringing a dish out to the patio area: He thanked us for coming in. As we left there lady host was there but was speaking to incoming customer did not mention to her about the lack of service, also since I discussed it with the other server. Hope service can get better and to be able to order verbally if we return. I'm not super sav with the phone app. Would request that customers could choose Wings with both sauces and a Red Help button or just Servers to stop by the table to see if we have...

Came in on a Thursday at around 5 pm with a party of 8. There was seating for us outside in the back, and all the tables were socially distanced, which I appreciated. The only thing that was annoying is that it's located very close to the airport so every two minutes, you hear an airplane landing, which is very distracting. That being said, it's probably not the best place if you want to actually sit and have a conversation. But it's not their fault that they're pretty much located on the San Diego Airport runway.

To order, you can just scan the QR code, pick the drinks (or food) you want, checkout and pay with your phone, and someone will bring it out to you. We were in San Diego celebrating my bachelorette and when our server heard this, he offered my first round on the house. Totally unnecessary, but very sweet of him!

They have pre-set flights but I don't like IPAs, so I decided to make my own mini flight by just ordering the 4 oz sizes. I had:

High West Barrel Aged Victory at Sea (Porter - Imperial/Double Coffee - 12% ABV - High West Bourbon/Rye Blend)

Trade Street Rye Whiskey (Scottish Ale 7.8%, aged in rye whiskey barrels)

Woodford Rye Barrel Aged (Porter-Imperial - 11.8% ABV)

As you can see, I like darker beers. Aged in whiskey barrels? I am there! The High West tasted a little watery to me though, which is strange since it had the highest ABV. I liked the Trade Street and Woodford Rye. If beer is not your thing, they also have wine, ciders, hard kombucha - you'll find something.

Overall, it was a great time. If I didn't need to save room for dinner, I would have tried...